...........Nandini's POV Cont'd.............

Me - Mukti

That was all I could utter when I saw her and Abhi's pictures on the card..A flashback of past images and events played in my head... memories ranged from being incredibly blissful to horrifyingly ugly...soon enough I realized my face was wet with tears and I started shivering with fear remembering the scary ones...I wanted to stay strong because I knew Abhi would get really worried if he saw me like it...but I was feeling helpless..I looked at my laptop screen only to see the bedpost on the other side...honestly I sighed in relief and rushed to washroom to calm myself down..I had no idea how I would have explained the reasons of my state to Abhi... thank God he was not there when those memories were making me weak.. ironically no matter how strong I become these memories were still powerful enough to destroy me..I heard Abhi's voice and I composed myself to face my brother..I went out thanking God.. relieved with the fact that since he has not seen, he wouldn't ask but I was still skeptical since I didn't know when, I mean exactly at what point he left..

Me - Aa rahi hoon yaar..chilla kyun raha hain
(I am coming.. why are you shouting..??)

Abhi - What the...!! .. I am shouting..I am here to speak with you and not the frames on the wall (I felt relieved.. may be he didn't witness my breakdown.. thank God)..

Abhi - Done crying (may be I spoke too soon..I looked at him surprised and decided to do damage control)

Me - Oh that..I was really happy...you are getting married...(Surprised at my flawless lying abilities, I gave myself a virtual Pat on the back)..I am so happy that my brother is getting married with my...(shut up nandini..now you are going overboard..I mentally slapped myself)...I mean my brother is marrying the girl he is madly in love with....!!! Understood..!!!...(phew..!!..this is going to be difficult)

Abhi - yes I understand...I mean what you are trying to say is you are very happy since your brother is heading towards a holy matrimony with YOUR CLOSE FRIEND.. isn't it...!!

I looked at Abhi shocked..how did he know...I never told him...may be Mukti did...but why.. did they discuss about me...does Mukti and everyone else know that I am Abhi's sister...more importantly does Manik know..I looked at Abhi for answers...he gave me a blank expression... why is he not saying anything..I need answers.. Stupid Nandini..have you asked the question for him to answer

Nandini - (stammering) how....do...you.....know..??

Abhi - I saw you on Mukti's friend's list...then I saw her going through your profile a few times..not just her everyone else too..I asked her she referred you as her long lost close friend..she told me due to some misunderstanding you've grown apart..but she never explained in detail..she told me that they have hurt you and that is why you've left

Me - did you tell her that I am your sister..

Abhi - No I didn't...for several reasons...if known she would have expected me to make her meet you.. which I wasn't sure if I could..Second I didn't have the clarity of the events in the past and I didn't want to be unfair towards you since the only thing I was clear about was that you were hurt because of them... I wanted to understand your view point too which obviously I couldn't since our conversations had turned minimal. Third, goings by their discussions about you, I realized that they were guilt-ridden...they blamed themselves for the your state...if not meet they would have definitely expected me to fill them in about you which I myself was clueless about...and knowing that you've drifted yourself apart from your family too would have led them deeper in the pool of guilt..that is why I remained quite

Me – Thank You..!! (I was so proud of Abhi his decision reflected maturity and not haste...I admired his sane approach towards the entire situation..but I still had a doubt and I knew Abhi would answer that too with all honesty since my brother might lie to anyone but me and since he has always given me a freedom to question anything and everything going on in his life..i went ahead voicing my thought...Oopps !! my doubt..!!)....But Abhi I am aware of your possessiveness when it comes to me...even after knowing that somewhere they, including Mukti, are the reason of my pain...I hope it is Abhimanyu Murthy and not my over possessive protective brother marrying her...!! (I felt uneasy while saying the last line..I knew I was wrong as a sister doubting my brother's intentions but the friend in me needed an assurance..!!)

Abhi – Stop scolding yourself Nandini...The battle your mind is into currently is pointless...I know Mukti is very dear to you...not as dear as me though...and so you have every right to ask me this..so don't trouble yourself..!! (How..like how well does this guy know me..Blood relations i suppose)You know what Nandu..initially when Mukti told me bits of information, I was really mad at her and everyone else..For two days, i fought with her on the pettiest issues...I used to make a mountain of a molehill..I just wanted to speak with you but you were out of country at that time..I thought this was something that needs to be cleared face to face rather than on phone and hence waited for you to return ...But then two days later,while fiddling through Mukti's phone, I came across a conversation between you and her on facebook, I realized that you still consider them as your friends..they are an important part of your life...You love them but may be you are too scared to come back to them..and that's when I decided to take the relationship with her forward...Why should I hold grudges when you have forgiven them...Some where I knew you would be happy about my decision...You are...Aren't you...??

Me - I am elated Abhi...Mukti is a great girl..infact they are a great gang..yes they were misunderstandings and we were too naïve and immature to handle them..But over these years we all have grown up into confident and mature individuals. I am so glad you found your lifepartner in Mukti..She is best thing that could happen to you.. take care of her... Pamper her..Never leave her side...and remember...Mukti is very special to me...Don't you dare break her heart else I'll break every bone of your body...

Abhi – Woaahh!!! My lady hulk is back...I like it...!!...Anyways as I promised I brought the smile on your face so now I am signing off...take care....I have texted you the address and contact details of the company developing the invitation...Take to them for changes and customizations..do speak with Amms or Mom regarding the wedding dates and venue etc...Take care babydoll...Love you

Me – Aye Aye Captain .!!! Orders taken and transmitted to brain for processing..Byee..Take care..Love you too..!!

With this Abhi signed off leaving me in a pool of thoughts flowing in my head...when I woke up 2 hours ago, I had no idea that my life would take such a turn...a turn where my past will collide with my present and that too in this manner..Abhi and Mukti..i couldn't even imagine that...but I am happy for both of them...Abhi really loves her...in the few conversations we had in the past years 70% of it was dedicated to his girlfriend..though I didn't know anything about her yet I could send the happiness in his voice...and about mukti...most of her FB messages were about her boyfriend....his nature..his calmness..his care..she couldn't stop gushing about them...Oh God..!!...These two souls were madly in love with each other

Somewhere I was glad that abhi didn't inform them that I am his sister...I has always been very introvert when it came to family...while my friends knew the members of my family through my conversations...but they had never seen them not even pictures...except.............Oh Shit!!!....Except Manik, he has seen Abhi's pictures on my phone..not just abhi but my entire family....Did he recognize Abhi...I don't think he did... otherwise he would have confronted Abhi and Abhi would have told me...Mukti is his sister..He wouldn't take any risks when it came to her life...Shrugging all thoughts away, I got up to freshen up and the call the company for the invitations but before that I need to speak with Chachi and Amms...Come on Nandini..its gonna be a long day ahead

.............Nandini POV ends..............

Sometimes in life there comes a time when you decide to confine yourself into a shell. It doesn't mean that you are not strong enough but you've just lost the desire to fight. That is exactly what happened with Nandini. Over the years she tried fighting with the pain she was going through but then slowly her hope started to diminish and desire to come out stronger faded away. She did not find any purpose that could motivate her to fight against the turmoil and so she sought shelter in her self-created shell. Her insecurities, fear, pain hardened the walls of the shell and it became impossible for her to break them and come out of it. The fact that she never saw a reason good enough to break it also strengthened the walls. Talking to Abhi gave her a reason to push the walls and break out and that was exactly what she did.

After finalizing the invitations, she called up Amms and Chachi, asked them about other details regarding the wedding and shared her inputs. Her family was happy that Nandini was wholeheartedly taking interest in deciding the wedding festivities. They were delighted to see a glimpse of their old Nandu. Though they knew things won't change overnight and there is still a long way for the Old Nandu to come back but they were happy with the few steps that she was taking forward. While on the other hand, Nandini couldn't believe that her life had taken a U-turn in just two hours. She picked up her phone and typed a message only to delete and re-write it. She played this game of Write-Delete-Rewrite for a couple of minutes. Finally after fiddling with the keyboard, she finally pressed SEND and sighed...!!!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------End of Chapter 3-------

This brings us to the end the chapter 3...Hope you all liked the way things are shaping up in the story...Nandini has finally taken a decision to come out and face the reality...but will the events in future turn out to be a smooth as the conversation with Abhi..Life is full of surprises and one never knows what comes next in your way..!!

So how would everyone react when they come to know about Nandini's presence in the marriage and that too as Abhi's sister...!!!...Stay tuned to find out

Well...Well..next chapter introduces other characters of the story and their point of view...more importantly next up is MANIK's entry...!!

So guys...Excited to get an insight into Manik thoughts...knowing what changes have gone 5 years have brought in his life...??

That's it from me for today...See you guys..Cheers..!!